now, if president obama does go cut muscle, things that are important, voters are going to be looking at him saying, mr. president, you could have cut fat. what about those travel budgets? what about the programs that don't work? what about the scandal-ridden or fraud-ridden programs? why aren't you doing that rather than cutting the muscle? jon: but clearly the white house gambling or believing that when all is said and done, the american people are going to blame congress for any ill effects that come from the sequester cuts. >> right. but it's a big bet. and it could turn out badly. i think the republicans ought to take an affirmative step and call the president's bluff. the house republicans ought to, in my opinion, pass legislation that makes clear the president has the authority inside these agencies not to cut every activity across the board, but to cut less essential programs more and important programs less. and they ought to give this flexibility to the president and then use the power under article i, section 9 of the constitution, the power of the purse it's called, and ca